Cons: Many of the tee signs have been ripped down, leaving a bit of guesswork.

Most of the holes are blind throws, with safety being an issue due to location of the park. Without another person to serve as a spotter, one could accidentally hit someone.

Watch out for the parking lot on hole 1, the basketball court on hole 2, walkers on hole four, another parking lot and more walkers on hole 6, the church and parsonage on hole seven, etc.

Other Thoughts: The creek adds a nice atmosphere to the park, but was rather dirty. When a bad throw dropped my midrange in it, I was a little worried about cutting myself on something. The water was too muddy to see and I had to feel around to find the disc.

Pros: Play hole 3 a few times a day and your ace count can look like Cubby's.
Risk vs. Reward on hole 5, with the basket being on the downward slope.
Holes 6, 7, and 8 had more distance, but holes 6 and 8 would be the only two holes that felt like the usual holes you would see at another course.
I was under the impression that the navigation was difficult and finding tee pads would take time, but despite the odd flow, navigation is pretty easy and the course can be played quickly.

Cons: No clear tee areas, just find a spot next to the tee sign and throw.
Minimal tee signs with just hole number and distance. Very odd flow, jumping back and forth between holes you end up walking in the shape of a knot.
High grass.
Slight safety issues in an already suspect area: Parking lot came into play on hole 1, hole 2 throws over basketball court and directly over number 3's fairway. Hole 7 was a 90 degree turn near property lines and along a sidewalk.
Parking was not ideal, people from the housing project were parked facing uphill taking up 3 spaces each. There were only 8 spots total. We parked up by the Law Enforcement Center, then did not like not being able to see the car and parked on the hill.
OB can come into play (if you count the creek and all pavement), but the only purpose is serves is to punish an already horrible throw.
Several of the baskets seemed low. #5 is very low, slightly tilted, and their was a bald spot in the chains.

Other Thoughts: There is a sign that specifically says that sex offenders are banned from course, so pedoplayers can take their discs elsewhere.

I think course was simply planned poorly. Recap: Hole 1 had the parking lot on left, 2 threw over basketball court and hole 3, 3 was a dinky little putt of a hole, then you walk back over 1 to 4. 4 and 5 are blind shots when they do not need to be. 7 was just poor all around. Throwing 80 feet then turning 90 degrees near a house to throw 250 feet along a sidewalk and property lines.
(photos added)

Pros: What I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 9 hole courses:

1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == C-
(No punishment anywhere that would add an extra stroke to ones score for a bad shot. Some terrain and trees might just get you a bad roll-away.)

2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I throw 300' accurately, 360' max. == C-
(Most of the short holes are too short to be rewarding and the 2 long holes are too long to be rewarding.)

3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == C
(Given what the designer had to work with, there is a decent variety of shot shapes. My favorite hole is 196' #5 which throws ~160' over a flat lawn and then things drop off. The basket is on the downslope with the hill still continuing behind it. I love how that messes with your depth perception! I threw 3 ace-run discs at it and they we all short.)

4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == C-
(While the park is maintained pretty well and in decent shape, it is located in a low end neighborhood. Since it is so open, there is no seclusion from that.)

5) Bonus points for multi-throw holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == N/A
(There are 2 longer holes where I can not get in putting range. These are not par 4's for me, but would be decent par 4's for folks who throw around 225-250')

Other Thoughts: It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well the course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. Since I have played a decent number of courses (149 18-hole, 91 9-hole as of late 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me….that's the fun of things here. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

Pros: Palmer Lake is a little recreational nine hole course set in this nice little park. The park slopes down to a creek in the middle giving some elevation opportunities on many holes. It's another one of these NC courses where I'm not sure who the designer was building the course for, Beginners or recreational type players. # 3 is a simple little 110 ft. wide open hole and then there is # 7, a 427 downhill hyser. # 2 features a sharp hyser shot around some trees. There are no teepads and no signs of anywhere where people have been teeing it off from. This leads me to believe that this course doesn't get many disc golfers. There are small tee signs giving the distance, par and hole #. The baskets were basically, both with no signs of any vandalism.

Cons: I wouldn't want to be playing this course when the park was busy with some kind of party or celebration. It's more than a pitch and putt but not quite a full sized recreational course. I'm going to agree with Craig that the course doesn't flow real well.

Other Thoughts: Unfortuantly, someone built this course in the wrong neighborhood. There are project type apartments on both sides of the course. If this nice little park was in a better neighborhood of Shelby, I could see it getting a fair amount of play, because it kind of an enjoyable little throw.

Pros: It's a short, quick 9 hole course. Allows for quick rounds and plenty of birdie chances.
- Holes 6 - 8 are legitimate holes. Nice stretch of longer, more challenge layouts. You have to throw well on these to get your pars.
- Good mix of easy, shorter holes & more challenging ones.
- Good baskets.
- They didn't have much to work with, so I'll give them credit for making it as difficult as possible.

Cons: Course is cramped. They used every inch of space to squeeze in 9 holes. I haven't come across many other courses (thankfully) that are as squeezed as this one.
- If the course is ever crowded, you'll have to keep an eye on people playing other holes. Risk of throws from other holes overlapping is high.
- Sign by parking area says "Parking lot is under 24-hour surveillance." That pretty much describes the surroundings.
- There isn't much flow to the course. After playing hole 1, holes 2 & 3 are to the right. Then you cross back over the first hole to play 4 & 5. Then you walk back past the first teepad to play 6. With a little better planning, they could have had the holes flow in order, like most courses, instead of crossing back and forth.

Other Thoughts: This course would get a lot more play, and positive attention, if it were located in a more disc golf friendly location. Swap this nine-hole course out with many others in the region (Crest, Kings Mountain HS, Dorton, North Cabarrus, etc.) and this course would be thought of in a much more positive light. Instead, it seems like it's going to waste.
- There are definitely some fun and/or challenging holes on this course. For only nine holes, you get a some nice variety.
- You're not going to be overwhelmed playing here. But (in disc golf experience only) you shouldn't be disappointed. #8 is really a fun hole. There's the challenge of a creek along the left side of the fairway, and a semi-low ceiling on a tee shot. The creek also guards the front and left of the basket. It takes two solid shots to get to the basket.
- As stated, put this course in a different location, and most of these reviews (mine included) would be higher scores. Keep that in mind when checking this course out.